Tuesday, 28 January 2014

Giles's True Red NC

Giles's MX-5 is a 1.8 model with the option pack fitted and finished in True Red. The option pack adds several features normally found on the 2.0 models including the premium cloth soft top instead of the vinyl type.
The soft top version was chosen as even though the coupe's roof can be lowered in 12 seconds, the cloth roof can be lowered even quicker. Not long after buying the car, a detachable hardtop in the right colour came up on eBay at a great price and although it was 4 hours away Giles decided to go for it. I think it makes a great looking addition and very useful for these cold & wet winter months.
Since the MX-5 is a modern interpretation of the classic British roadsters, the ideal first step is to add some exhaust noise for those sunny top-down B-road blasts. An IL Motorsport stainless steel muffler was fitted and later combined with a 4 into 1 de-cat manifold from Japspeed and a custom made centre pipe with integrated high flowing cat. This setup has given the car a great sound that is still ok around town and creates pops and burbles between gear changes and on overrun.
The standard Mazda wheels have been changed for a set of 17" 7.5J Inovit EV32 with ET42. These wheels are slightly wider with a lower offset than the originals so they sit further out and fill the arch better. To complement the new wheels, Eibach 45mm lowering springs were fitted to bring the car's ride height down. Handling was further improved with a fresh set of Kumho Ecsta KU39 tyres.
Having seen many NCs in the USA with red tint tail lights, and many Japanese ones with yellow headlights, Giles decided to give this a try. After removing the front bumper, a layer of yellow film was applied over the lenses along with some new bulbs. The rears were tinted red in a similar manner. Next on the to-do list are some interior mods including digital oil pressure and temperate gauges in custom mountings.